Portrait Of
A Bachelor
PHOTOS BY GLENN TRIEST
A sign of desperation? Hardly.
RUTH LITTMANN STAFF WRITER
eff Dell is waiting for the right woman to pick him
up off the street — make that the freeway. The
Lodge, in fact.
This blue-eyed bachelor hates personal ads. In his
quest for a lifelong lover, spouse and soul mate, he
has "never, ever" resorted to newsprint. But give the
nonsmoking SJM, 35, a chance to plaster his face
on a highway road sign and — what the heck — he'll
take it.
"I hate small personal adds," he clarifies. "I hate
personal ads that blend into other personal ads."
Champion of subtlety, icon of reserve, Mr. Dell
appears with three other bachelors on a billboard in
Detroit proclaiming: WE WANT TO DATE YOU!
Call us. (810) 358-2273.
Their four, well-groomed mugs beam out over traf-
fic going northbound on the Lodge, just south of the
Davison. Dial the magic number and you'll hear in-
structions on how to hook up with one of these eli-
r
Calendar
Friday, February 24
A singles Shabbat service at Temple Emanu-El in Oak Park. "The Chaldean Link to
Christians, Jews and Muslims" will be discussed. 8:15 p.m.
Saturday, February 25
Oakland University Jewish Students Organization/Hillel will host a movie night.
Call (810) 370-4257.
Tuesday, February 28
The Young Adult Division of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit is
hosting a barnight at Old Woodward Grill. 8 p.m.
Thursday, March 2
The Young Adult Division of the Jewish Federation of MEtropolitan Detroit is
having a committee meeting for those interested in YAD's donor thank-you party.
7 p.m. at the Lonestar Coffee Shop in Birmingham.
Saturday, March 4
C/D
The B'nai B'rith Young Leadership Network is sponsoring a murder mystery din-
ner at Pearl City Restaurant in Southfield. Call (810) 669-2152 or (810) 280-0709.
Monday, March 6
Hillel of Metro Detroit is hosting a coffee house night at the Birmingham Coffee
Exchange. 9 p.m.
Cr)
UJ
Tuesday, March 14
The B'nai B'rith Young Leadership Network is holding its monthly bar night at
Carlos Murphy's in Southfield. 6:30 p.m.
F—
CD
CC
F-
LU
Do you have an item for our young adult/ singles calen-
dar? Send it to Jennifer Finer at
The Jewish News
27676 Franklin Rd.
Southfield, Nil 48034
F-
108
L
gible beefcakes: Tony, Michael, Ray or Mr.
Dell himself.
The recording enthuses: They want to
know all about you, so write them a letter
and send a picture! A video would be even
better ... I'm telling you these guys are great.
This isn't just some weird video dating ser-
vice or anything. They're just four guys who
want to meet some new women. Write them
now. I promise you, you'll have a great time.
The billboard isn't as innocent as it looks.
Behind those four friendly grins is more
than $5,000 — shelled out by WXYZ-Chan- Jeffrey Dell is flying solo — for now.
nel 7 television. The station's morning show,
"Company," rented the sign as a prelude to a seg- tial bachelor.
His refrigerator? "Empty. I eat out every day."
ment on dating, to air at 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 24.
His toilet seat? Up? Down?
"It was really an experiment," says Producer Lori
"Clean," he claims. "I'm so compulsive I even put
Weiss. "There are people who have rented billboards
around the country. We wondered what would hap- paper down before I use it."
pen if we did it here in De-
troit."
Since the Lodge sign went
up in late January, the bill-
board guys have received
dozens of letters. Though Ms.
Weiss could not specify exact-
ly how many, she said Mr.
Dell received "by far" the
most.
Enhancing his popularity,
Mr. Dell took part in a few
short interviews with Jim
Harper of "The Breakfast
Club" on radio station WNIC.
By mid-February, there were
lots of notes and photos for
Bachelor Number Four — but
no videotapes, and nothing
raunchy.
"Everything was very sin-
cere," he says.
Two weeks before the show,
Ms. Weiss was still arranging
its format. She knew it would
feature the four bachelors. She
figured they'd be introduced
to some of their drive-by pen Tony, Michael, Ray and Jeff. Stay tuned for Mike's story.
pals. Whether the show would
Laundry? "It's usually not on the floor for more
take on a "Love Connection" genre, she said, remains
than a day."
to be seen.
Dishes? "They're in the sink for, at most, a couple
Why did Ms. Weiss choose Mr. Dell as part of the
four? Their families go way back, and "to know Jef- of days, and then I just throw them out. How many
frey is to love him. He's an obvious choice," she says. times can you wash a paper plate?"
"He's so much fun."
Mr. Dell has other trappings of the quintessen- BACHELOR page 109